Lady Luck finally greets Sir Isaac
Singapore race round-up
There was no need to put him through a mandi bunga (Malay for flower bath) ritual to rid him of bad luck after all.
SIR ISAAC, who found one to beat in four of his five starts, finally broke through at Kranji yesterday with a convincing win that suggests more to come.
Ridden by jockey Michael Rodd, the handsome Cliff Brown-trained brown Australian-bred jumped well and sat just behind Emperor Warrior in the Restricted Maiden event over 1,400m in Race 2.
Funkadelic swept past Sir Isaac near the 900m mark to join Emperor Warrior in the lead. This got Sir Isaac perked up and he moved up to circle around the leaders at the bend, albeit a bit wide. Rodd then allowed Sir Isaac to stride to the front and guided his mount back to the inside to save ground.
From then on, it was evident the $6 favourite and my best bet was never going to be beaten.
The runner-up, One Kinabalu, finished well, after racing fiercely by throwing his head up and down early.
Rodd had said before the race that Sir Isaac possesses a lot of ability but tends to lay in or out when whipped and that he would ride the horse hands and heels with just a crack or two in the straight.
"Yeah, look, he has been knocking on the door for a long time. He's a horse with so much ability, just has that little quirk in the race, where he does things wrong," said Rodd.
"He bounced out of the gates and he was beautiful, just on a long rein and so relaxed. As soon as one came up to eyeball him, he's a real competitor. He thought the race was on, so he just took off and took charge coming down the hill.
"The bit went through his mouth at the 700m and I went off the track for a little bit. Once he got past, he relaxed again. Then I was able to bring him back in and he relaxed again.
"Cliff had said to me 'just go for home, don't look pretty on him'. You know, sometimes I just sat too long on him, so I went for home and he travelled pretty contently, and he has pulled up right. Hopefully, he has got a bit of confidence today. He was a bit fresh today but he has got so much ability. Hopefully, we'll get more out of him."
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